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WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
| firstchamp = Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit }} The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) RAW Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Wrestling Entertainment. The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. History After the Brand Extension in World Wrestling Entertainment, the WWE Undisputed Championship and WWE Women's Championship became the only titles allowed to be defended on both the Raw and SmackDown! brands, while the remaining titles became exclusive to either brand. During a period of open free agency, the Tag Team Champions were signed to appear and defend the title on the Raw brand. The Tag Team Championship became exclusive to the Raw brand, leaving the SmackDown! brand without a tag team title. As a result, SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon, introduced the new "WWE Tag Team Championship" and commissioned it to be the tag team title for the SmackDown! brand. She stated that the inaugural champions would be determined from an eight-team tournament. On October 20, 2002, the team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit defeated Rey Mysterio and Edge at No Mercy 2002 in the tournament final to become the first ever WWE Tag Team Champions. On October 17, 2007, SmackDown! and ECW announced a talent sharing agreement, where wrestlers of either brand could appear on both shows. From then on, the title had been featured and defended on both brands. The titles first prominently appeared on ECW after John Morrison and The Miz began an eight-month-long reign on November 16, 2007. On April 5, 2009 at WrestleMania XXV, WWE Tag Team Champions The Colóns (Carlito and Primo) defeated World Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz to unify both titles into what WWE referred to as the "Unified WWE Tag Team Championship." On the August 16, 2010 episode of Raw, then-champions The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd) were awarded a new physical representation of championship belts, signifying the consolidation of the unified titles to one championship. WWE confirmed via their website that these tag team titles would succeed the retiring World Tag Team Championship as WWE's only tag team championship. All title history after August 16, 2010 ceased for the World Tag Team Championship while the WWE Tag Team Championship's linage continued. The Hart Dynasty lost the titles to Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre (later briefly named "The Dashing Ones"). TDO then lost the title to the Nexus team of John Cena and David Otunga. At the orders of Nexus leader Wade Barrett, Otunga then laid down and intentionally gave up the titles to the team of fellow members Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater. Following the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016, then-champions The New Day were drafted to the Raw brand, making the championship exclusive to Raw. In response, SmackDown created the SmackDown Tag Team Championship on August 23, 2016. The WWE Tag Team Championship was subsequently renamed to reflect its exclusivity to Raw. The championship's belt design was given a slight update on December 19, 2016, featuring silver plates on red leather straps, counterpart to the blue straps on the SmackDown Tag Team Championship belts. Names 2012 Tournament * It was announced on the September 28, 2012 edition of Smackdown taping in Buffalo, New York that a tag team tournament will take place to determine the #1 contenders to the WWE Tag Team titles. 2016 Tournament * It was announced on the April 11, 2016 edition of Raw in Los Angeles, California that a tag team tournament would take place to determine the #1 contenders to the WWE Tag Team titles. Past Designs File:JJ.png|WWE Tag Team (SmackDown!) Championship (2002 - 2010) Penny.png|WWE Tag Team Championship (2010 - 2014) WWE Tag Team Championship 2014.png|(2014 - 2016) WWE Raw Tag Team Championship.jpg|(2016 - ) See also *World Wrestling Entertainment *Champion history - History of the wrestlers who have held the belt. *Title matches - Matches in which the title was defended. *Champion gallery - A gallery of all champions. External links *WWE Tag Team Championship at WWE.com *WWE Tag Team Championship at CAGEMATCH.net ro:WWE Tag Team Championship Category:World Wrestling Entertainment championships Category:Tag team championships Category:Tag team wrestling championships